The present disclosure relates generally to medical devices and, more particularly, to improved interconnects between a sensor and a monitor.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In the course of treating a patient, a medical monitoring device may be used by a clinician. The device or monitor may be connected to a sensor disposed on or in the patient. The device may include a connection port for connecting the sensor to the device via a sensor cable. Often times, the sensor may be coupled to the device or monitor via a relatively short sensor cable (e.g., three feet in length). For ease of use, the sensor cable may be mated to an extension cable that spans from a plug of the sensor cable (that normally plugs into the connection port of the device) to the connection port of the medical monitoring device. The extension cable may enable the patient to move freely without disconnecting the sensor from the medical monitoring device. Because the sensor cable may be relatively short, a head or sensor interconnect of the extension cable, which receives the sensor cable's plug, may often be located in the patient's bed. Further, the head of the extension cable may include protrusions and/or other irregular geometries. As such, the patient may experience discomfort when he or she rolls on top of the head of the extension cable. Additionally, the protrusions may catch on sheets or other articles in and/or adjacent to the patient's bed, causing the sensor to fall off the patient and/or the sensor cable to unplug. Therefore, there is a need for an improved configuration of the head of the extension cable that does not discomfort the patient and does not cause the sensor cable to unplug or detach from the patient unintentionally.